Status Report of LGBT in Tonga

1. Introduction – This report on the current status of the LGBT community will focus more specifically on the Gay or Leiti populations in Tonga, consisting of males who are considered as Gay, Transgender, or Bi-sexual [1]. This report is primarily to bring light on the social, economic, health and spiritual status of this population along with some of the challenges, obstacles and future aspirations of this group collectively and individually.

With the installation of programs, activities and partnerships with private groups, government agencies and community organizations, we have fortunately been able to share some of our basic and crucial needs as a leiti population and yet we are often neglected when crucial planning and input should involve us happens. And, even though these partnerships have afforded us with opportunities to educate the public about our specific needs and challenges, we are often confronted by the lack of access, opportunity and equality to information and activities that should involve us in the forefront of planning. We are usually an afterthought.

2. Social – the leiti’s in Tonga strive to be very involved in their community by participating in social activities when they are needed to assist in execution of certain task which may involve cooking, decorating, entertaining and cleaning. Their social acceptance among their community is still disenfranchising because they are allowed to participate in some activities and yet they are not allowed to take on roles that might be seen as male dominant roles.

With the annual Miss Galaxy Pageant we have provided a nationwide and international venue for leiti’s to present their talents and views to the public. It’s the one time during the year we come together to present the best of what we can offer our community as far as talents, entertainment and public awareness about who we are thanks to the ending support of our Princess Royal Her Royal Highness Princess Salote Pilolevu Tuita and our Patron who is Her Highnesses Eldest daughter Hon. Lupepau’u Tuita.

Unfortunately, even though we have made strides with the Miss Galaxy, we are often challenged by public misconceptions and the lack of financial support to help those who would like to participate in this pageant. We are hoping that in the future we can provide educational opportunities to create programs to provide the public with a broader look into our specific realities and give them a better sense of which we are and how we can be a more positive contributor to the society in which they live.

3. Economic – There is an increase of leiti’s striving to become more self-sufficient and create a unique niche in the economy. There is an increase of leiti’s involved in opening up their own little boutique salon offering beauty services to the public. Fortunately, they have been trained by other leiti mentors in this industry. There are others also involved in the public health arena as nurses, doctors, medical practioners and also teachers within schools but who have no strong association with the majority of leiti’s. I think these few educated don’t realize the impact they can have on these leiti’s who are not as fortunate to access opportunities as they have.

There is a huge population of leiti’s that are basically “homeless” and have no family or economic support. This is a major challenge for us to try and find opportunities to provide economic assistance to them in trying to find employment and education, especially for those that have exited early from school.

4. Health – the status of health among leiti’s in Tonga is very dismal with the lack of consistent monitoring and reporting of health status for this population. We are lucky that we are not at a state- of- emergency in any specific health crisis in our country but the lack of information and consistent monitoring of the health status of GLBT and leiti’s in Tonga can become a major obstacle if not realized now.

We have participated in several HIV educational workshops and activities thanks for the help of the Tonga Family Health, but there have not been any attempts by any one particular government agency or community group to organize a consistent monitoring and assessment of the general health issues and status of GLBT individuals in Tonga.

5. Spiritual – It is not uncommon to see some leiti’s participating in church services in Tonga among the different religious groups. They provide a very unique role in that they are a great support system when there are task in social activities planning and implementation. There are some that are involved in choirs and youth groups assisting in whatever programs and activities they can be involved in and often can make a positive impact on the image of leiti’s in Tonga.

However, there is still a huge population of leiti’s not involved in any religious groups due to fear ofrejection and bringing shame to their families. There is also a lack of outreach by religious groups to leiti’s which could really make a difference in their acceptance within their religious organizations.

6. Challenges, Obstacles and Future Forecast for leiti’s in Tonga.

The challenges and obstacles faced by leiti’s in Tonga can all be summed up in one word “lack of public education and support” of who, what and how they can contribute to the social, spiritual, health and economic vitality of the community. This is probably one of the major obstacles facing them, which also contributes to their lack of access to employment, educational opportunities and acceptance in Tonga.
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[1]We consider gay to a person who has sex with another one of the same sex, but he maintains the identity shaped in masculine. Inclusive this identity based in the sexual orientation, could shows itself absolutely masculine or more less feminine, but predominant masculine. Different is the situation of cross dressers, travesties, transgender, transsexuals, in which their sexual orientation is not relevant, but indeed their gender identity. They choose lo live with feminine attributes, in an occasionally, temporally way or in a permanent manner. So in this definitions, gay is completely different to leiti, but the same with trans (cross dressers, travesties, transgender, transsexual).
The Kingdom of Tonga is a small country located east of Australia and northeast of New Zealand, south of the Pacific Ocean.